March 25, 1920 



The Flc«rists^ Review 



27 



BRITISH NOVELTIES OF 1919. 



Summarizing the floricultural achieve- 

 ments of 1919, a British review of intro- 

 ductions of new varieties of roses dur- 

 ing last year states: 



"The list of novelties for last year 

 is not so long as usual, but this is 

 scarcely to be wondered at when we 

 ■consider the cumulative effects of five 

 years of war, with labor shortage, coal 

 on ration and all the other troubles 

 which we hope are now behind us. What 

 one does wonder at is the pluck and 

 perseverance of the raisers, who, after 

 surmounting all the difficulties of rais- 

 ing and growing their favorites, suc- 

 ceeded also in overcoming the obstacles 

 put in their way by the carrying com- 

 panies and got them up to the Royal 

 Horticultural Society in show form. 

 May no one grudge them the reward 

 they richly merit. 



"Rose raisers, though badly handi- 

 capped by the weather, scored a long 

 list of awards from the National Rose 

 Society, including nine gold medals. 

 This number was considered excessive 

 by many, but this matter has perhaps 

 been sufficiently argued and may be al- 

 lowed to rest. From the commercial 

 standpoint one of the most important 

 of the medal roses is Victory (Mc- 

 Gredy), which is likely to oust Rich- 

 mond from its present position as a 

 forcing rose in the market. Of the 

 others we were much struck by Mrs. 

 Henry Morse (McGredy), which should 

 become rapidly popular from its many 

 merits. Mrs. Chas. Lamplough is a yel- 

 low which should be a stand-by for the 

 exhibitor; Clara Curtis is another yel- 

 low by the same raiser, which should 

 be good for show or garden, whije yet 

 a third in this popular color is Inde- 

 pendence Day (Bees, Ltd.), a charming 

 garden variety. 



"In whites, Mrs. R. S. Darlington 

 (McGredy) is promising, being an im- 

 provement on Mrs. Foley Hobl3s. Mrs. 

 C. V. Haworth (Alex. Dickson) was 

 the best of the mixed yellow and pink 

 tints, of which we have now a fair 

 number. 



"None of the crimsons, except Vic- 

 tory, got into the gold medal class, but 

 several were worthy of note. To our 

 mind Prince of Wales (W. Easlea) was 

 about the most promising; Firebrand 

 (Alex. Dickson) was also a big flower of 

 good color, and Capt. Reid, by the same 

 raisers, had scent in addition to other 

 merits. 



"Seafoam (W. Paul), a bracteata hy- 

 brid, took the Royal Horticultural So- 



ciety award, and though not possessing 

 much form, is so profuse that it ought 

 to make a garden rose." ^ 



ROSE CULTURE, 



Last fall I dug out about 600 rose 

 plants from the field and placed them 

 in a hotframe in the ground, in a tem- 

 perature of about 50 degrees at night. 

 In December I potted them and grew 

 them in a temperature of about 45 de- 

 grees, then put them in a temperature 

 of 60 degrees at night. A few of them 

 have buds; almost all of them have 

 come blind. Can you tell me the cause 

 of this? I have cut the blind shoots 

 back to two eyes and placed them under 

 the bench. Do you think this cutting 

 back will cause them to be in bloom by 

 May 10? How long does it take for 

 a rose to bloom after the bud has been 

 taken off? A. F. C— O. 



dug up and heeled together closely in a 

 coldframe. As soon as the Christmas 

 plants are out of the way, it is cus- 

 tomary to pot the roses, placing them 

 in a cool house first. You made a great 

 mistake in placing your plants "in a 

 hotframe in the ground, in a tempera- 

 ture of about 50 degrees at night. ' ' That 

 was 20 degrees too warm; the freezing 

 point or a little lower would have been 

 better. I do not know whether you are 

 growing ramblers or bush roses. If the 

 former, only dead and weak wood 

 should be removed and the canes bent 

 around stakes to make them break more 

 evenly. If they are hybrid perpetuals, 

 much harder pruning is needed. With 

 baby ramblers, cut the growths back 

 half their length. 



Roses started in January will bloom 

 as early as the middle of March and 

 almost any kind can be had for Easter, 

 April 4. For May 10, dormant plants 

 cut back, started at 45 to 50 degrees 

 and later advanced to 60 degrees, will 

 be on time. C. W. 



LADIES' S. A. F. 



Your treatment of roses has not been 

 at all correct. The plants should have 

 been left outdoors until they had been 

 exposed to several good freezings, then 



Boaxd of Directors Meets. 



In response to the call' issued by the 

 president, a meeting of the board of 

 directors was held in New York Thurs- 

 day, March 18, at which time Mrs. 

 Charles Totty was elected chairman for 

 1920. 



The matter of fixing the amount of 

 the bond for the secretary and treas- 

 urer, in accordance with the action of the 

 society at the meeting held in Detroit, 

 was left to the board of directors. They 

 have fixed the secretary's bond at $500 

 and that of the treasurer at $1,000. 



Mrs. Albert M. Herr, Sec'y. 



C»CN LETTEI^^*- READEIi^ 



AN OLD VARIETY. 



In a recent issue of The Review there 

 was an inquiry as to a salvia-likc plant 

 with foliage that has the odor of pine- 

 apple. 



No doubt the name of this is Salvia 

 rutilans, an old inhabitant of gardens. 

 The writer grew it forty years ago. 

 This plant may be obtained at times in 

 gardens. A short time ago we sent to 

 England for plants, part of which were 

 given to Fritz Bahr, of Highland Park, 

 111., who valued it highly for window 

 boxes. He may be able to supply plants 

 now. E. O. Orpet. 



watered a few in pots and they also 

 turned black. It seemed to burn the 

 root system of the latter and then 

 moved up the main stem until the plant 

 was dead. Live steam is much better 

 than any other sterilizer that I have 

 ever found, although it is the most 

 trouble. D. E. Whitson. 



DANQEB IN FORMALDEHYDE. 



I have had an experience with for- 

 maldehyde which may be of some ben- 

 efit to the readers of The Review. My 

 advice is never to use it to sterilize soil 

 or sand, as it is sure death to plants 

 or cuttings placed in them. 



I sterilized some sand in my propa- 

 gating bench with a solution of one to 

 ttfty; that is, one part of formaldehyde 

 and fifty parts of water. I put 600 co- 

 leus cuttings in the bench and in forty- 

 eight hours all had turned black. I 



EyPRA PAY FOB EXTRA WORK. 



From a perusal of the help wanted 

 columns in the various horticultural 

 journals, it appears to be becoming a 

 general custom to state that extra pay 

 is given for Sunday work and over- 

 time. 



This custom has been a long time in 

 arriving. It should be the rule in all 

 places. There is no other business or 

 trade where a man is expected to de- 

 vote a full Sunday every two or three 

 weeks without any remuneration. The 

 weekly wages for six days in the florists' 

 business do not, in most cases, com- 

 pare favorably with those of skilled 

 workers in other lines. 



Prices of stock have been higher 

 than formerly for a long time and 

 should remain at a point that will allow 

 the workers that which is reasonably 

 due to them. E. E. Randall. 



